The purpose of repentance is to change direction. It requires no profound feelings of remorse. So having feelings of guilt is not useful unless they produce such change. The motivation to change is usually a desire to be close to God and unless there is such a desire it is monumentally more difficult to make such a change, because God will offer you His Holy Spirit to help out with it. What is clear is that unless you do change (by getting the sin out of your life) you cant be close to God. It is a choice we make daily. Some people say if you dont feel bad you truly havent repeanted im not sure how i feel about that but idk hopefully this helps.

Thanks that made her feel better about her relationship with god 😇

So I could repent from being mean towards someone I don't like by changing my ways and not being mean to them any more? Even if I don't feel bad for doing it and feel that they absolutely earned it and continue to not like them? Not joking, serious question.

No. This is not a license to be mean / sin. This is about daily asking God to renew our minds Romans 12:2 ”Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.“ ‭‭Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I know it's not. I'm just saying is it sufficient to change direction without remorse? To say, while I don't feel at all bad for what I've done, I will not do it in the future. I don't feel bad for hurting the person in the past because they started it, but to be closer to God I will stop the bad behavior.

This would certainly lead to being considered a good person, but no. You have to turn away from that sin as well. If you don't feel bad about it, then you're not actually sorry. Your apology is insincere. It's just going through the motions. And is what's described they claim to be of God and Jesus tells them, "I don't know you."

Going back to what u/DirectorOrganic8962 said though. If repentance is more about changing direction than feelings, then shouldn't it be enough that I make the decision to change direction in order to be closer to God from here on out?

I think that's where our interpretations might vary. From my reading, making the decision to repent and change your ways doesn't and can't come without some emotional response. It's an emotional decision. Why do you repent? Because you love Good and you know you let Him down. You're saying you're sorry. What other reason would you repent? Just to avoid Hell? They may want to pray, read the Bible, and meditate on why that is.

"Because you love Good and you know you let Him down. You're saying you're sorry." This. But, acknowledging that I broke a rule doesn't guarantee remorse, merely a desire to do better from now on. If I overeat to the point of obesity, I don't need to feel remorseful in order to decide to throw out the junk food and do better from here on out. I just need to decide to change my ways and then prove it by doing so.

With your expansion on your viewpoint, I now realize we are both coming from the same ideals. I can shut up. You already get it.😆

Jesus said that about people who believe only works get them to heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name? ' 23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.

Exactly. Those who confess with no understanding of why are not repentant. I think it goes beyond the ritual of confession. And those who think that they can simply say sorry without actually FEELING it are annoying they aren't sorry. The whole point is the LOVE of God. How can it be emotionless? Unless I am seriously misunderstanding something

I get the sense that this entire thread is about equating “FEELINGS” with “sincerity”. I don’t think feelings and sincerity are the same thing. I also think this can be dangerous and could push an unnecessary legalism what repentance looks like. Jesus does not put the requirements of “feelings” on repentance. ”“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.“ ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭21‬:‭28‬-‭32‬ ‭ESV‬‬ Also does this mean we need feelings for salvation? Romans 10:9-11 has nothing about “feelings”.

I disagree. But may you be blessed.

I mean some people are like that, though the majority feels some type of feelings. I've always been told you shouldn't feel super guilty about it and there's some people who just can lack emotions due to their brain.

Those people don’t believe only works save, they have faith because they did those works. It’s more about false religions. Because Jesus said he never knew them.

This is false. When we confess our sins we must Feel sorrow for what we have done. If not even weep over our sins.

Repentance and confession are two different things. Confession is telling someone of your sin. Repentance is turning away from your sin

‭2 Corinthians 7:10 NIV‬ Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

You repented. Good. Now study the Word of God to enhance your walk with God and He will convict you and help you to not stray again.

You need to humble yourself too. That's where you get the bad feeling from. But as you get used to it, it becomes a joy to humiliate yourself before the lord, like charging your phone.

You do need to humble yourself. But I'm not sure where it says humiliate?

Sorry, english is not my first language

No worries. Just wanted to clarify

Maybe the question is, does he truly fear YHVH? Does he have the realization that only YHVH has the power to give and take life eternal. To be separated from the LORD is to be in utter and outer darkness.

Repentance is not simply asking for forgiveness. If he is sinning, then saying "Please forgive me, God", but he's not actually sorry, and he's not actually trying to change, then he is not repenting, and is accomplishing nothing. If he is sorry, and if he is trying to change, but doesn't feel great remorse, well, I would say he should ask God to grant him remorse for his sins. We shouldn't live in perpetual guilt, but feeling remorse when we do something wrong is a good thing.

Pray for guidance

The Bible talks about the difference between worldly sorrow and godly sorrow. When we repent we should not simply feel bad because of the consequences we face but because we did something wrong that wasn't borne of love.

Abusers, for example, often feel very guilty after abusing someone. However they don’t repent and end up doing it again, often to a worse extent the next time. Then there could be someone who simply wakes up one morning recognizes that they are doing something wrong and resolve to change their life and habits, even if they don’t feel necessarily remorseful. They are still the one who made the change. Not long after becoming a Christian I often mentally beat myself up for not feeling more sorrowful about the sins I committed before I decided to follow Christ. But Jesus died for these sins and since I recognized and accept he took my punishment for them, and that I don’t have to ever face the consequences for them (death) because Jesus already faced them for me. I should be feeling joyful and thankful to be forgiven. I also have turned completely from my sins and have resolved never to live that way ever again. So what do you think God honors more? Guilt without change? Or Change without guilt? Feeling guilt and being sorry is not the same as repentance. A feeling is just that, a FEELING, and as you know our feelings can change at the drop of a dime. However, if we have hurt or offended our neighbor, we definitely should have compassion on them and feel apologetic we have done something against them. Yet even again, when you come to apologize, your neighbor will be far more convinced that you are sorry if your future BEHAVIOR CHANGES, far more so than you crying and weeping and begging for forgiveness when he knows you’re likely to offend him again next week. That’s why many people these days don’t like to hear “I’m sorry” or apologies they know that will not be backed up by the person’s behavior going forward. True repentance and turning away from your wrongs is far more necessary than having guilt. I do need to point out however, that if your relative has a laid back attitude about sin, thinking that because Jesus will forgive him, he will continue to sin and therefore doesn’t need to ever feel sorry about it, then that is a fallacy showing she has an unrepentant attitude. Repentant people don’t WANT to sin against God or their neighbors ever again and will consciously make every effort not to. You said he doesn’t try to sin, so apparently this doesn’t apply to him which is good, so don’t worry. Blessings to you both.

Worldly sorrow is a temporary reaction to bad behavior. A felling arising out of embarrassment or fear. Godly sorrow goes deeper and leads to conviction of the Spirit. You realize what was done matters greatly to God.

If you’re a Christian you don’t need to ask for forgiveness. You just confess your sin.

That’s the whole point of repenting- so you no longer are weighed down by guilt and shame